


The Wizard of Storybrooke

by Shepherd23



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Family, Gen, Kids, Rumbelle Secret Santa 2017, The children get into trouble, with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-12 12:18:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12959028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shepherd23/pseuds/Shepherd23
Summary: Deep in the Echoless Woods, there lives the most fearless sorcerer in all of the Enchanted Forest; Gideon, the son of Rumplestiltskin. He has rid Avonlea of pesky dragons and saved the Glass Hill flocks from the terror hellhounds. But sometimes he needs a little help from his papa.RSS 2017. Prompt: darkness, secrets, royalty, family, prophecy





	1. The Visitors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imgilmoregirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgilmoregirl/gifts).



> For imgilmoregirl. Merry Christmas my friend! I had a great time with your prompt and it was fantastic getting to know you!

Deep in the Echoless Woods lived the most fearless sorcerer in all of the Enchanted Forest. His name was Gideon, the son of Rumplestiltskin, the hero of Avonlea and Glass Hill. He had rid Avonlea of pesky dragons, saved the Glass Hill flocks from the terror hellhounds and rescued the princess of Avonlea from the darkness of the Echoless Forest. Today though, he was on a different quest. He moved through the undergrowth, slipping slowly across the sun-dappled floor of the forest. He was, he believed, as stealthy as a shadow. The trees around were still and silent, the only noise the occasional note of birdsong. No wind blew, no clouds marred the brilliant azure sky. It was the perfect day for a sorcerer on a mission.

Gideon had almost reached the conker tree when he heard the engines coming. Careful to keep out of sight, he raced up the proud old chestnut to his secret fort. From up high, he could see over the thick, impassable hedge which separated the road from Glass Hill. The crunch of tyres on gravel and the purr of the engine grew louder as the cars got closer, two streaks of black and brown amongst the early spring green.

Raising his hood for better camouflage, Gideon trained his spyglass on the vehicles as they whizzed past on the other side of the hedge. This was it; they had arrived! Humans, entering a magical area, entirely unaware of the dangers that they faced! They had to be protected, and who better to do it than the hero Gideon.

He swung over the railing and jumped onto the branch below, where he ignored the ladder and bravely leapt the three feet down from the treehouse. As he landed, he rolled into the leaf litter and prickly undergrowth that grew around the base of the tree. Thorns scratched his cheeks and hands, but he ignored those minor injuries. There was no time for that. He reached into the waistband of his pants for his sword.

Oh, no! It was broken! He must have snapped it when he jumped. He chucked the broken sword aside and picked up another that lay underneath the tree. Holding his new sword tightly, Gideon sprinted alongside the track, hurrying to catch up with the car.

There was a gap in the hedge that, if Gideon stood on his toes, he could spy on the visitors without being seen. He watched the car pull up to the front of his home and the unsuspecting occupants exit the vehicle. Gideon got his spyglass out again and listened carefully to the conversation.

“Thanks for offering to look after the boys, Belle,” said Mrs Snow. “I’ve given them a lecture and told them to be on their absolute best behaviour.”

“Not a worry,” said Gideon’s mother, Lady Belle of Avonlea. She opened up the hatchback and was reaching inside when Mr Robin intervened.

“I’ll take those. I don’t know what Snow packed, but it feels like Jesse’s overnight bag is full of bricks.”

“Jesse!” Gideon heard his friend Diane Locksley call as she jumped out of Mr Robin and Mayor Regina’s car. “Come on! I’ll show you where me and Roland found a secret dragon den. Come _on!_ ”

Through the gap in the hedges, Gideon saw Jesse look questioningly at his mama, who smiled and nodded. Jesse dashed after Diane.

“Hold on a second, Jesse!” shouted Mr David. “Don’t you have anything else to say before you go running off with your friends?”

“ByeMommyandDaddy, seeyatomorrow!” Jesse shouted over her shoulder.

“Well!” said Mrs Snow with her hands on her hips. “ _He’s_ obviously going to miss us!”

Gideon continued to watch as Mr David picked up Jesse’s little brother Leo and followed Mama and Mr Robin into the house. He was wondering where Papa was when a twig snapped somewhere behind him. He whirled around and raised his sword.

“Got you, demon!” he shouted, driving the point of his sword home into the beast’s belly. It staggered back, clutching its wound and collapsed against the big oak tree.

“Aaah! You got me, Gid,” said Papa, lifting his head and grinning broadly. “Well done. I see you noticed our visitors. Shall we go and say hello?”

He held out his hand to his younger son. Gideon said nothing and watched his father.

“What’s the matter, Gid? You’ve been quiet all day. Is it because Jesse’s here?”

Gideon nodded.

“Diane and Jesse are a bit much for you when they get together, aren’t they?” Papa asked. Gideon nodded again, and his father sighed sadly.

Gideon did not like Jesse Nolan much. He was not a very nice boy. In fact, Gideon rather thought he was quite horrible. Mrs Snow always insisted that he was just being a little boy and showing off, but that didn’t make any sense because Gideon was a little boy and he didn’t behave like Jesse. Papa said Jesse was silly and that Gideon didn’t act like he did because he was much smarter than Jesse. But all Gideon knew for sure was that Jesse wasn’t a very nice boy, and Diane wasn’t very nice when he was around. And now Jesse was going to spend the night at Gideon’s house.

“You’ve been jumping into the brambles again, haven’t you?” asked Papa. “Don’t worry, son, you’re not in trouble.”

Papa pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the mud from Gideon’s face and hands. Then he had a look at the scratches.

“We’ll have to clean those up, okay?” said Papa. “Let’s go and say hi to Leo. He looked a bit nervous; he’s never been away from his mama and papa before so we’ll have to be especially nice to him.”

“I can look after him, Papa!” said Gideon, standing up straight and puffing up his chest. This was a job for a hero!

Papa smiled proudly. “That’s my boy,” he said, ruffling Gideon’s hair.

* * *

“Are you looking forward to seeing New York?” Belle asked as she tried to dry the last of the dishes with Gabi and Nicholas unhelpfully spreading bubbles over the kitchen counter. Robin stopped to give her children a high-five each before he put the kids’ overnight bags on the table.

“Oh, absolutely!” said David, setting Leo down on the mat in front of the fireplace. “Yeah, Neal’s offered to show us all around.  Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Natural History. Leo wants me to bring him back a T-Rex.”

“Down, Mama!”

“I wish we were going with you,” said Belle while she helped Gabi swing to the floor, whereupon she promptly ran over to join Leo. “Make sure you tell Henry we’re proud of him.”

She had to admit that she was feeling pretty jealous. Henry was set to receive an award at his college graduation tomorrow morning, and the whole family had been invited to New York for the occasion. Emma, Neal and Regina had already been there for two days; and David, Snow and Robin were flying out later to join them.

Snow smiled. “I will. You’re sure you can’t come? I know Granny wouldn’t mind watching the kids for a night –”

“Thanks, but it’s okay. Gideon’s been a bit out of sorts for a few days, and I haven’t been feeling too well either. We’ll be fine.”

“Spoon!” Nicholas interrupted, showing Robin the piece of silverware with pride. Robin smiled and pinced the little boy’s cheek, making him laugh.

Then the back door opened and Rumple entered, hand-in-hand with Gideon. Their seven-year-old had his thumb in his mouth and was watching the other adults with apparent apprehension.

“Hey!” Belle called, giving her son an encouraging smile. He could be shy, she knew, and needed a bit of encouragement to join in. “What have you two been doing?”

“Chasing monsters in the woods, I believe,” said Rumple. “Are you gonna say hello?”

“Hello, Mr David. Hello, Mr Robin,” said Gideon, taking his thumb out of his mouth to wave. Then he spotted Leo and Gabi playing with the Lego and instantly brightened. “Hi, Leo!”

“You wanna go and help them?” Rumple suggested gently. Gideon nodded. Not a minute after they sat down, Gideon and Leo became entangled in a dinosaur versus knight-on-horseback battle, with Gabi looking very annoyed because they kept knocking over her towers.

“Well, that should keep them occupied for a while,” said Snow with a chuckle. “Okay, well this is all of Jesse’s things, and that one is Leo’s.”

Belle smiled. The difference was fairly obvious; Jesse’s was military camouflage greens while Leo’s was decorated with dinosaur stickers.

“Jesse will probably tell you he’s allowed to stay up ‘til nine. He’s not; bedtime is eight o’clock, and Leo goes down at half past seven. Actually, you can probably get them to bed earlier if you want. All Jesse really cares about is that he stays up later than his brother.”

“Gideon is exactly the same,” said Belle. She stopped to pick up Nicholas – he had grabbed the sponge and she knew he would stick it in his mouth if she didn’t stop him. “Don’t worry; they’ll be fine. It’s just for the one night. You and David go and enjoy New York.”

Snow fidgeted and chuckled shyly. “Yeah. To be honest, I’m a little frightened. I’ve never been to such a big city before.”

“Eh, you’ll be fine,” said Robin. “Just keep the vigilante justice to a minimum and nothing could possibly go wrong.”

“Yeah, okay,” Snow sighed. “Alright.Well, you should have everything the kids need. There’s a couple extra changes of clothes in Jesse’s bag, and one in Leo’s, just in case.”

“You’ll need them for Jesse, I think,” said Robin. “Diane’s secret dragon den is just upstream of the old toll bridge. But it’s a really super secret dragon den, so I can’t possibly have told you where it is, right?”

Both Belle and Snow laughed. “I won’t be at all surprised if Jesse comes back wet and dirty,” said Snow.

“Diane, too. In fact, I’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t,” added Robin.

“He’ll be fine with Di. And Gideon’s already looking after Leo,” Belle assured Snow, nodding to the boys playing on the floor with their fathers. “We thought we’d take them up to the watchtower for a picnic, if that’s okay with you.”

“That’s a good idea. Tire ‘em out. It looks like you’ll have a good day for it.”

“Come on, Snow, it’s time we got going,” David announced. “You going to come and wave us off, little Leo?”

Leo’s bottom lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears.

“We can wave at ‘em from the treehouse if you want,” Gideon offered. “We can wave here an’ run real fast an’ get to the treehouse ‘fore they get there.”

“Bet you can’t,” David teased. “Little boys can’t run faster than a car.”

Leo looked at Gideon, who nodded.

“Can so!”

David looked at Robin for advice.

“Come on, let’s get going,” said Robin. “And don’t drive too fast,” he added with a wink.

“How about this; if you can run faster than a car, I’ll bring you back a present?” David told his younger son.

“Yay!” Leo jumped up and down excitedly. “Bye, Mommy an’ Daddy! See ya tomorrow!”

“Bye, bubby.” Snow knelt down, gave her younger son a kiss and fixed up his shirt. “You be good for Miss Belle and Mr Gold now, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

“Bye, Diane!” Robin shouted out of the window.

David and Snow kissed their son goodbye. Then the three parents left the cabin. As they were getting into the car, Jesse and Diane raced back and joined the others in waving goodbye. Gideon had already grabbed Leo’s hand and was dragging him and Gabi up the pathway to the treehouse. Rumple took Nicholas from Belle and jogged after them.

“Where’re they going?” asked Jesse.

“They’re going to wave bye from the treehouse,” said Belle. Jesse gasped.

“You got a treehouse? Can I see it? Please, please, please?”

Belle smiled at him. “It’s up that way. Can you race there?”

“Yeah!”

“On three? One, two –!”

Jesse ran on two, laughing like mad. Diane shouted, “Oi!” and sprinted after him. Belle jogged along behind.

Thanks to David’s slow driving, everyone but Belle beat him to the treehouse in plenty of time. Then, standing on the platform, they all waved as David, Robin and Snow drove past and started on their long trip south-west to Boston.


	2. The Watchtower

Leo Nolan’s hands, both of which had been waving excitedly, fell to his side and the boy slumped. Gradually, silence overcame all of the children as the cars turned the corner and disappeared. Even Jesse was uncharacteristically quiet as realisation hit him; his parents were gone. Gideon was watching Jesse and Diane, Gabi stared at Leo, and Nicholas had become extremely interested in a stick. Rumple took the potential hazard off his youngest son, then watched as his elder two put themselves in the other children’s shoes.

“Hey, Leo,” Belle murmured gently, “what do you want to do now?”

Rumplestiltskin noticed that the boy’s lip had begun to tremble again. Then he felt Gabi tug on his hand; she looked up hopefully at him, and he realised she was asking him what to do.

“We thought we could have an adventure. What do you think?” Belle suggested. Leo’s lip trembled again, but Jesse’s eyes widened, Gideon smiled, and Gabi bounced up and down excitedly.

“Can we go up to the Yaoguai Caves?” Jesse begged. He pronounced it as “Yow-guy”.

“No,” said Rumplestiltskin with a shake of his head when Belle hesitated. “You know that’s not safe.”

The Yaoguai Caves were up in the foothills, just a little further into the woods from the magic well. The dwarves had uncovered them a month ago while excavating old, collapsed sections of the fairy dust mines, and sealed the area off not a day after they unearthed the site. The area was unstable and prone to tremors, but most disturbing of all, it contained rock paintings of the fiery demon monster that had haunted Liang Zhou years ago. It was unlikely that there was actually anything down there, but Rumplestiltskin knew that David and Emma wanted a chance to check it out before they let people in.

“Actually, we were going to go and see the Old Watchtower and have a picnic,” said Belle. “Daddy told me you haven’t been to see it yet, Di.”

“Uh-uh,” said Diane, shaking her head.

“Would you like to see the watchtower?”

“Yes, please!”

Jesse, whom Rumplestiltskin was certain had until then been busily making other plans, looked at his friend and then nodded with all the grace that a Charming could muster when things hadn’t gone their way.

“Good, then we’ll head back to the house and get started on our adventure!” Belle announced. “Who wants to be a scout and lead the way?”

“Me!” Diane shouted first, followed by Jesse when he caught on to his friend’s enthusiasm. “That’s what Daddy does! Me an’ Jesse’ll go on ahead an’ keep you safe from dragons an’ trolls.” Her brow creased as she thought. “We’ll probly have to fight somethings though. We’ll need bows – magic bows.”

“Swords is better,” said Jesse.

“An’ fireballs, like Mummy!”

While the two older children made their expedition plans, Rumplestiltskin watched Gideon, who was watching Diane and Jesse with a wary eye.

“And we’ll need an adventure leader,” Rumplestiltskin added gently.

“Me!” Gideon volunteered instantly. Jesse looked like he might argue.

“The adventure leader will have to stay with the main group,” said Rumplestiltskin.

“Oh. Okay. M’just gonna be a scout then.”

Chattering excitedly, the Gold children and their guests hurried back to the cabin. Belle took the lead, holding Gabi and Leo’s hands, while Rumplestiltskin brought up the rear. He watched as Gideon and Jesse both found long sticks. When Jesse waved his just a touch too close to the back of Leo’s head, Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat. Jesse turned to him with what was obviously supposed to be an innocent expression and began to use it as a walking stick instead. He threw Rumplestiltskin a look that tried to say: “It was always a walking stick, sir. It was never a sword. And anyway, even if it was a sword, I would never poke Leo with it.”

It was a good attempt, but unfortunately he was unable to disguise the addendum: “At least not while you’re looking.”

 _Gods, he’s Emma Swan in miniature,_ Rumplestiltskin thought with a scowl. The last thing the world needed was another version of his daughter-in-law. Especially one that came in the form of an eight-year-old boy.

Well, if Rumplestiltskin had to be the “bad cop” on this trip (as Bae would no doubt say), then bad cop he would be.

At least Adventure Leader Gideon took his job seriously, Rumplestiltskin thought with a surge of pride. His son carefully oversaw the packing of provisions while Scouts Diane and Jesse practised fighting trolls on the patio. Gideon checked that he had his handy spyglass (a magnifying glass attached to a toilet-paper roll) and a pocket flashlight, then lifted one of the rucksacks, discovered how heavy it was, and appointed Mama and Papa as the porters. Rumplestiltskin exchanged a smile with Belle.

Then the group set off at Gideon’s word, starting off on the hiking track with Belle leading the way. Rumplestiltskin stayed behind to make sure the cabin was properly locked up. It didn’t take him long to catch up – even Diane, who had been hiking since she could walk, didn’t move very quickly. Especially when the adventure included a one-year-old who wanted to stop every few metres to look at butterflies and flowerbuds.

When he did catch them, the group had stopped to watch intently as a newt scampered across the track and dove into a puddle of muddy water left over from a rainstorm a few nights ago. Or more accurately, Leo, Gabi, Nicholas and Diane were watching intently. Gideon stood a short way back and kept guard, looking just like a little adventurer with his walking stick and bright blue backpack. Jesse was feigning disinterest. Twice he loudly announced his boredom, but his complaints fell on deaf ears. Besides, Rumplestiltskin noticed that he didn’t take his eyes off the newt until it had finished its business with the water and disappeared into the forest.

They then continued to stroll leisurely up the track for a quarter-mile before turning onto a narrow path that led north-west to the Old Watchtower. The dwarves had discovered that place too, just after finding the Yaoguai Caves. It turned out that a lot more had made the trip over from the Enchanted Forest, which – Rumplestiltskin had to admit – did worry him a little. Still, the watchtower was harmless enough – provided you didn’t lean too heavily on the railings – and from the top on a clear day, it was possible to see out to the bay beyond Storybrooke.

Once off the beaten path, the scouts ran ahead. Jesse knew where he was going, and Diane was already a better navigator than most adults. Rumplestiltskin knew they would be fine. He still made sure to keep an eye on them, as well as on Gabi and Leo. The older children were taller than the bracken but the younger ones weren’t. Twice the children disappeared in the undergrowth, only to emerge a moment later. About halfway up the trail, the main group were forced to stop and search when they lost sight of Leo. After a few seconds of frantic shouting, the younger Nolan jumped happily out of his hiding place in the bushes and shouted, “Boo!” then giggled happily at everyone’s expressions.

“At least he’s having fun,” said Belle, laughing with relief. “I think he’s going to be okay. I have to admit, I was a bit worried.”

“Gid will look after him,” said Rumplestiltskin. He and Belle hung back slightly, watching as Gideon grasped Leo’s hand and helped him conquer a short, rocky climb up the bank of a dry creek. “I think he likes to help people. It makes him feel needed. A bit like somebody else I know.”

He grinned cheekily, which his wife did not miss. She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze which meant, “You big softy.”

“Papa,” said Nicholas, tugging on Rumplestiltskin’s hand. “Papa, u’pease.”

He smiled sympathetically and lifted his son onto his shoulders. He had seen Nicholas begin to flag shortly after the creek bed. Nicholas grasped and tugged his hair painfully in his attempt to steady himself, but Rumplestiltskin didn’t complain.

As they continued on the bracken-laden climb, the watchtower steadily came into view. It was an old stone thing of a style seen all over the Enchanted Forest countryside, complete with a rickety circular staircase and ivy covering the lower half of the tower. Then a sudden shout came from up ahead. Rumplestiltskin jumped at the noise and searched frantically for the source, found it, and his worries immediately vanished. The two scouts had become entangled in a furious battle with some imaginary enemies. A toy arrow was suctioned to a tree courtesy of Diane, and Jesse’s multi-purpose walking stick flung bits of bracken high in the air. They were still battling ferociously against whatever monsters they discovered by the time the rest of the adventurers had caught up.

“What’s been happening here?” Rumplestiltskin asked with overdone curiosity, indicating the flattened bracken and arrows strewn about.

“We just killed a Yow-guy!” Diane announced proudly, lifting her bow into the air in triumph. “We saved you all!”

“Wow,” said Belle. “It looks like it was a pretty big battle.”

“’Twas the biggest Yow-guy ever!” Jesse confirmed. “Even biggerer than Daddy’s truck!”

“Really?” said Rumplestiltskin, sounding impressed. “Well, we’re nearly at the watchtower. Do you think we should stop for a drink, and maybe some chocolate, when we get there?”

“Yes!” Gideon agreed. “An’ we should race to the tower!”

“Alright. The first one to the watchtower gets the first piece of chocolate,” Belle suggested. “Wait up!” she added when Diane and Jesse started to run. “Not until I say that you can go.”

“Doon, Papa,” said Nicholas, giving his father a nudge with his heels. Rumplestiltskin gratefully obliged. He wasn’t heavy, but Nicholas plus a laden rucksack was extremely uncomfortable on his shoulders and neck.

“You each go when I tell you to go, and not a moment earlier!” Belle ordered, giving Jesse and Diane a firm look. “Ready? Nicholas, go! Wait a second, you lot!”

The other children fidgeted impatiently while Nicholas ran ahead. Rumplestiltskin watched closely. He thought  it was terribly funny, seeing toddlers attempt to run without any clue the role their arms were supposed to play in the process.

“Alright – now Gabi, Leo, _go!_ ”

The younger children scampered forwards. Belle allowed them to get a short distance away before saying, “Alright, now Gideon, Diane and Jesse – _go!_ ”

Even without his Sight, Rumplestiltskin knew the outcome of the race. Jesse was inching forwards before Belle told him to go – which was, Rumplestiltskin suspected, why she made sure to say his name last – but Gideon easily kept pace with him anyway. The boys would catch up to the younger children easily enough, making it a close race between them, but Diane would win no matter how much of a headstart Belle gave the others.  Unfortunately what he didn’t foresee was Nicholas looking back to see how close the others were, tripping and falling on his hands.

Belle started moving the moment Nicholas began to fall, possibly even before. She dropped her rucksack and sprinted across the clearing. Leo had got to Nicholas first; Rumplestiltskin picked up his wife’s bag and watched the boy stop to comfort his son. Gideon and Gabi both stopped too, and – a little to Rumplestiltskin’s surprise – so did Jesse. As he predicted, Diane wound up the clear, but slightly embarrassed, winner in what had become a one-child race.

By the time Rumplestiltskin caught up, Nicholas was in his mother’s arms and his desperate cries turned to muted sobs.

“Are you alright, son?” Rumplestiltskin asked, gently rubbing his boy’s back. Nicholas shook his head and tearfully showed his grazed palms and knees.

“Blood,” he sobbed.

“Don’t worry, Mama will fix it all up,” Rumplestiltskin assured him, dropping both rucksacks onto the ground. Belle had a first aid kit in the top of hers. When Gideon started crawling, he and Belle had come to an agreement that he wouldn’t use magic to mend the children’s minor ailments. Common colds, grazed knees, a tummy bug – they needed to build up their immunities rather than a dependency on magic. Much as he would have preferred to wave his baby boy’s pain away, Rumplestiltskin understood there were some things that children just had to endure.

He found the antiseptic wipes and gave them to his wife, who quickly wiped up the blood and checked the scratches for dirt. Satisfied that there were none, Belle reached for a bandage.

“Uh, where did the kids go?” she asked, a note of panic in her voice. Rumplestiltskin quickly looked around the clearing but found only Leo, who was holding Nicholas’ shoe in an attempt to be comforting, and Gabi, who looked as surprised as Rumplestiltskin was by the sudden development.

“Gideon?” Rumplestiltskin shouted. “Jesse? Diane?”

“Gideon?” Belle joined him after quickly bandaging Gabi’s knee. “ _Gideon Matthew Gold!”_ she shouted louder, using her stern mother voice.

Nobody jumped out of the bushes.

* * *

 

Gideon had seen Jesse and Diane planning something by the tower when his parents weren’t watching. They kept giving Mama and Papa odd glances. Gideon thought about giving Papa a nudge, but then he noticed them sneak around the tower and into the forest. Gideon glanced at his family. No, Nicky needed Mama and Papa more. He could handle this.

It didn’t take him long to catch up. They hadn’t gone that far, just far enough that Gideon couldn’t see the tower past the trees anymore. And they were arguing about something.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, which made both of them jump. Diane’s face turned bright red when she saw him, and Jesse scowled.

“We’re goin’ to the Yow-guy Caves, an’ you’re not gonna stop us!” the other boy announced, putting his hands on his hips.

“You can’t!” protested Gideon. “You heard Papa – it’s too dangerous!”

“Adults say that ‘bout everything.”

“But there’s _things_ in there! Monsters an’ Yow-guys an’ Mr Leroy said there’s even a _dragon!_ ”

“Cool!”

Gideon made a face. _Cool?_ It was one thing to pretend-fight dragons in the woods, ‘cos those were just made up of course, but a real-life dragon in a dark cave – and he wasn’t even really sure what a Yow-guy was, except that Mama said they were worse than dragons and if they were worse than _dragons_ then –

“Maybe he’s right, Jesse,” said Diane. She shuffled one of her feet and looked like Gideon felt when he ate a holly berry by mistake. “It could be dangerous. An’ what if we get in trouble?”

“We won’t. We got swords, see?” he said, swinging his walking stick. “If we find monsters, Dad always says – ‘Don’t bop ‘em on the nose ‘cos it’ll just make ‘em angry; make a lot of noise an’ it scares ‘em away’.”

“But Papa said –” Gideon started, but Jesse cut him off.

“You’re just a ‘fraidy-cat,” he teased. “Come on, there’s nothing dangerous up there. I just wanna take a look. You coming or you gonna be a ‘fraidy-cat?”

“I’m not a ‘fraidy-cat!” Gideon protested.

“So come on then!”

“But –”

 _This is wrong,_ Gideon thought as Jesse ignored him, and turned in the direction of the caves. He looked at Diane, who shrugged and followed Jesse without a word. Gideon stayed where he was.

He could see the caves through the trees. They weren’t very far away, and there didn’t seem to be any monsters. Still, even just looking at them gave Gideon a bad feeling. They were dark, and tall, and Papa said he wasn’t supposed to go up there –

No, he should just go back to Mama and Papa and tell them where Jesse and Diane were going –

Except, Gideon realised once he had turned around four times, he was a little bit lost. Actually, he was _really_ lost. He couldn’t see Mama and Papa at all, and he couldn’t figure out which way he had come from. Panic set in. Oh, he was going to be in so much trouble.

“Wait!” he shouted just before Jesse and Diane also vanished from sight, and he ran to catch them.

If they stayed together, then at least Gideon could make sure that Jesse and Diane didn’t get into _too_ much trouble, like if they really _did_ run across a monster. And it would be easier for Mama and Papa to find them if they stayed together.

Yes, that sounded like a plan.


	3. The Cave

“Awesome!”

Gideon thought he and Jesse had different definitions of the word ‘awesome’ because he would not have described the Yow-guy Caves as ‘awesome’. Awesome was Mr Incredible shooting the Omnitron’s brain out with its own foot. The Yow-guy Caves were not awesome.

He took his flashlight out of his pocket, clicked it on and shone it around the cave. He couldn’t see any bones, or claw marks, or black patches on the walls that could mean dragons, or dinosaurs, or giant robots. But that didn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t there.

And there was a small part of Gideon – a bigger part than he cared to admit – that felt a _thrill_ about the whole thing. This wasn’t some made-up adventure with toys and fake characters. This was _real._

He _wanted_ to see what was in that cave.

“Come on,” Jesse whispered, beckoning him and Diane forwards.

“Jesse, we shouldn’t be up here,” said Diane. “We’re gonna be in so much trouble –”

“No, we’re not. Come on.”

Jesse walked straight under the yellow police tape. The rocky ground crunched underneath his sneakers, amplified a hundred times by the cave. Gideon swallowed heavily. _One quick look, and then we’ll go back,_ he decided. He just hoped Mama and Papa wouldn’t be _too_ mad …

“ _BOO!_ ”

“Aaaaah!”

Gideon hit the ground hard, the rock cutting his hands as he scrambled and kicked to get away from the monster –

Oh. It was only Jesse.

“That was’n funny.”

“You shoulda seen your face!” Jesse laughed, which just made Gideon angrier. He should never have followed him up to the Yow-guy Caves. Jesse was a – what was that word Bae used? Moron. Jesse was a Moron, which Gideon guessed made him a Moron for listening to him.

“It still was’n funny!”

“Oh, _come on!_ ”

“Jesse!” cried Diane, looking as scared as Gideon felt. “It wasn’t funny! Now, come on! Can we please get outta here?”

“We jus’ got here.”

“You said a _look!_ What if Gideon’s right and there really are monsters in here?”

It was dark, but Gideon could still see Jesse roll his eyes. He did that a lot. “Come on, you two. There’s no monsters –”

_Grrrroooooooooollllllllllllllll._

Gideon froze.

“What was that?” Diane whimpered beside him.

Even Jesse was quiet.

_Grrrroooooooooooolllllllllllllllllll._

Oh, no.

The ground shook and the growl got louder. Flakes of dust and dirt fell from the ceiling into Gideon’s eyes. He heard himself scream, and Diane screamed, and Jesse screamed, and the rumbling got louder and louder –

Somebody grabbed Gideon’s hand and pulled him to his feet. And then they were running, and running, and then there was a cracking noise like thunder and –

“ _Owwww_!”

The hand holding his was wrenched away, and Gideon skidded to a stop.

Diane was already outside the cave. “Gideon, _come on!_ ”

“Jesse’s hurt!” he cried back.

One of the wooden beams had broken in half and fallen down. Jesse was on the ground near it, clutching his leg and crying in pain –

“I gotta help him!”

“No! Are you crazy?!”

 _Probably,_ Gideon thought as he raced back into the cave. He skidded the last metre, scraping his knees and legs on the rocks but he took no notice. The cave was still shaking, and that growling sound hadn’t stopped – if there really was a Yow-guy in the cave, then they didn’t have a lot of time –

“Get up!” Gideon shouted, but that just made Jesse cry even louder. He wouldn’t get up, and Gideon couldn’t carry him. “Di!”

She was already gone. Or had the Yow-guy got her?

_Grrrrooooooollllllllllllllll._

The Yow-guy was getting closer. Gideon stood up, patted his belt and drew his sword, swinging it in front of him –

Okay, it was just a stick, but what else did he have?

What did Jesse say his papa had told him to do about monsters? “ _Don’t bop ‘em on the nose ‘cos it just makes ‘em angry; make a lot of noise an’ it scares ‘em away._ ”

“I ain’t scared of you, Mr Yow-guy!” Gideon shouted as loud as he could while he jumped up and down, kicking rocks into the air and swinging his stick-sword at any shadow that seemed darker than the rest. “You go away! Leave us alone or I’ll – I’ll – I’ll stick you! I swear I will!”

The rumbling had stopped, he realised. Gideon clenched his sword tightly. Just because it had stopped didn’t mean it had gone away. And the monsters never listened when little boys told them to go away in the movies –

“Gideon! Jesse!”

Gideon frowned. It _sounded_ like Papa, but he had heard about monsters that could make themselves sound like other people so they could lure their victims into a trap. Could the Yow-guy do that? Was it trying to trick him?

“Gideon!” he heard Papa call again, and the _crunch-crunch_ of feet running on the rocks behind him. Gideon twirled around with his sword raised, then dropped it and ran.

“Papa!”

“Oh, Gid!” Papa cried as he scooped Gideon up and held him tight. “You’re alright, boy. You’re alright.”

“ _Papa-there-was-a-Yow-guy-an’-the-beam-fell-an’-Jesse-got-hurt-an’-I-scare-it-off-‘fore-it-got-us-an’ –_ ”

“Gid, Gid,” Papa said, putting him down and kneeling so that they were eye-to-eye. “Whoa. Slow down.”

Gideon took a deep breath and was about to repeat his story over when Jesse cried, “Mr Gold!”

He was red-faced and crying, obviously in a lot of pain. Gideon couldn’t see much in the darkness but he kept his ears pricked for any sounds of the Yow-guy coming back while Papa looked at Jesse’s leg, then touched it in a spot that made Jesse scream. There was a pop, and the smell of dusty old books that always made Gideon think of Mama, and Jesse stopped crying.

“Come on, boys, let’s get out of here,” said Papa, helping Jesse to his feet. He whimpered and his leg gave way when he tried to stand, so Papa picked him up. “Hold my hand?” he offered to Gideon.

“What if the Yow-guy comes back?”

“Then we’ll all yell and scream and scare him off like you just did,” said Papa, grasping Gideon’s hand firmly. “Come on. Let’s get out of this cave.”

* * *

 

Diane had not been a great source of information when she appeared, bursting out of the undergrowth with her face covered in scratches and dirt matting her jeans. Rumplestiltskin caught the words ‘Yow-guy’ and ‘cave’, and guessed what happened. He teleported himself to the Yaoguai Caves ahead of Belle and the other children just in time to see Gideon yelling and screaming at shadows while Jesse whimpered on the ground, trapped by a fallen beam. There must have been an earthquake, he guessed as he fixed Jesse’s broken leg and carried the crying boy out of the cave. He made sure to keep a firm grip on Gideon’s hand. There would be a _lot_ of explaining to come, Rumplestiltskin was sure, but it could happen somewhere warm and safe and dry.

“Gideon!” Belle cried when Rumplestiltskin and the boys emerged from the forest back at the Old Watchtower. She raced to them and caught Gideon in a big, sweeping hug. “Oh, my God. Oh, you’re alright. You’re alright.”

“Jesse!” said Diane, who jumped up and ran to Rumplestiltskin’s side. The poor girl was covered in scratches and dirt, and it was obvious she had been crying. “Is he okay?”

“One second,” Rumplestiltskin told her. The job he had done on Jesse’s leg back in the cave was patchwork at best, and he needed to check it. He set the boy down so he could lean against the tower wall for support. Then he unhooked Jesse’s clenched fists from his jacket.

“’MsorryMrGold!” Jesse blubbered over and over again, crying profusely and rubbing his face until it was the colour of a tomato. “’Msorry, ’msorry!”

“Shh, shh. It’s alright,” said Rumplestiltskin. He grasped Jesse’s hands, forcing the boy to look at him. “I need to check your leg. Can I do that?”

Jesse didn’t seem capable of much more than a nod, so Rumplestiltskin went with that. He gently rolled up Jesse’s trouser leg and had a look at his injury. It was red and already starting to bruise, but Jesse could wiggle his toes when Rumplestiltskin asked him to.

He pressed down on the boy’s leg. “Does that hurt?”

Head shake.

“What about here?”

Another head shake.

Rumplestiltskin grunted in satisfaction. It wasn’t broken, and a quick scan told him that the rest of Jesse’s injuries consisted of a scraped elbow and a bruised cheek.

“He’s alright,” Rumplestiltskin assured Diane. She shut her eyes in relief. “Can you sit with him for a minute?”

“Yessir.”

Rumplestiltskin stood up and took a breath. Now that they were out of the caves and away from danger, his relief died down and was replaced by a wave of anger. He looked at his wife, who was fussing over their oldest child while the three youngsters watched them with a mixture of curiosity and fright. Rumplestiltskin doubted it had been Gideon’s idea to sneak off to the caves – that plan had _Nolan_ written all over it – and if he was going to get any sense out of the children, he needed to remain calm.

“Belle,” he said, careful to keep his voice steady as he tapped his wife on the shoulder. “We should get them back to the cabin.”

“Definitely,” she agreed. “How’s Jesse?”

“No broken bones. Just a scrape or two.” Rumplestiltskin ground his teeth and shook his head. “Stupid, foolish, _idiot_ boy. He could have gotten them all killed.”

“Rumple,” said Belle firmly, reaching for his hand. She nodded in the direction of the tower, where Diane and Jesse sat, both of them quietly crying. “I’ll talk to him, okay? Let’s just go home and get them cleaned up. Then we can sort all of this out.”

Rumplestiltskin reluctantly nodded. “Alright.”


	4. The Fort

The power of a child’s imagination truly amazed Rumplestiltskin sometimes. After he and Belle got the children back to the cabin, cleaned them up and pieced together the story from the scrambled bits of information that Gideon, Diane and Jesse provided, Rumplestiltskin had to suppress a laugh. His son actually believed there had been a Yaoguai in that cave.

While Gideon and Diane each had a shower, Rumplestiltskin put Nicholas down for a nap and then made a pot of tea. He discreetly added a dash of scotch – he didn’t like the children to see him drinking, but he needed something stronger than English Breakfast to calm his nerves or else he feared he would snap – and then sat at the dining table. He had one eye on Gabi and Leo playing together on the floor and the other eye on his wife.

Through the open front door, he watched Belle crouch down and talk quietly but firmly to Jesse Nolan. The boy’s head was down and Rumplestiltskin could tell by the slope of his shoulders that he was receiving a very stern talking-to. He sipped his tea and made a note to suggest that Belle be the one to tell Snow and David about Jesse’s behaviour. He was fuming and not confident he could keep a civil tongue.

Belle was still talking to the boy when Gideon padded out of his bedroom in clean clothes and his wet hair sticking up in every direction. Rumplestiltskin put his tea down and leant forwards; Gideon couldn’t meet his eyes, instead staring shamefully at his bare feet.

“Hey, Gid,” he murmured gently, holding his arms out. Gideon took the invitation and Rumplestiltskin lifted him onto his knee.

“Papa, am I in trouble?”

Rumplestiltskin smoothed down his son’s hair and kissed him on the forehead. “No, Gideon,” he answered honestly, hugging his son close. “You stayed to protect your friend, and I’m very proud of you for that.”

Gideon smiled shyly.

“But next time, if you see one of your friends doing the wrong thing, you’re not to go wandering off after them,” Rumplestiltskin added firmly. “Okay? You come and tell me or Mama. Or if you’re with Bae and Emma, you tell one of them. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Papa.”

“That’s my boy,” said Rumplestiltskin, giving Gideon a gentle squeeze. “I am proud of you. You know that, right?”

Gideon nodded. “I love you, Papa.”

“I love you too, son.”

“Do you think the Yow-guy is gonna follow us back here?”

Rumplestiltskin allowed himself a small chuckle. Then he held Gideon’s hand and looked him in the eye. “Gideon, do you know what an earthquake is?”

“Uh, I think so. Mama said it’s when the ground moves really, really quickly an’, uh, buildings fall over.”

“Sort of. All that shaking and rumbling you heard when you were in the cave – that was an earthquake. Not a Yaoguai.”

His brow wrinkled as he processed that information. “So … there was no Yow-guy?”

“No Yaoguai.”

“Oh.” Gideon’s cheeks flushed.

“It wasn’t silly,” Rumplestiltskin assured him. “Even though there was nothing there, it was still very brave of you to stand up for Jesse like you did.”

Gideon bit his lip. “I wasn’t as brave as you, Papa,” he said quietly.

Rumplestiltskin held him close. “No, you weren’t as brave as me. You were even braver.”

Gideon didn’t say anything, but reached up to put his arms around Rumplestiltskin’s neck and hugged him tightly.

“Rumple?” Belle then called, catching Rumplestiltskin’s eye as she walked in the door. “Jesse has something he would like to say.”

The boy shuffled forwards, eyes on his shoes.

Rumplestiltskin gave his son a nudge. “Gid, why don’t you see what Gabi and Leo are up to while Mama and I have a word with Jesse?”

“Okay.”

“’M sorry for wandering off when I shouldn’t have, Mr Gold,” said Jesse with surprising clarity, though he still didn’t make eye contact. “An’ ’m’sorry I made Diane and Gideon come with me.”

Rumplestiltskin leant forwards. “I accept your apology, Jesse. Thank you.”

Jesse nodded. Belle knelt next to him. “You understand that we’re still going to have to tell your mum and dad about this?”

“Yes, Miss Belle.”

“And Regina, too.”

Jesse swallowed and then nodded again.

“Alright. Then you have one more apology to make, okay?” Belle stood up. “Where’s Diane?”

“If she’s not in the shower, then I think she’s in the children’s room.”

“Gideon!” Belle called to their son, who looked up from whatever game he was playing with Gabi and Leo. “You’re not in trouble, but can you come with me for a minute?”

Despite the assurance, Gideon still looked sheepish as he followed Belle and Jesse. Rumplestiltskin sat back in his chair, sipped his tea and left them to it. Oh, he fully intended to let Snow and David know what their precious little prince had gotten up to. But for now, the boy’s apology was enough.

Ten minutes later, Belle emerged with the three children in tow. All of them were still tense and sheepish; Diane and Jesse stayed away from the kitchen, looking like they weren’t sure what to do now.

“You know, we could still have a picnic by the treehouse,” Belle suggested jovially. “Who wants jelly and ice-cream?”

“Me, me, me!” Gabi and Leo shouted together, instantly abandoning their game and racing to the kitchen, eager not to miss out. Even Jesse cracked a smile and looked hopeful.

“Alright, then. Jesse, could you grab the blanket for me, please? And Gid and Diane, can you help me carry things from the kitchen? Yes, Gabi, you can help too. There you go … Oh, careful!”

Rumplestiltskin chuckled to himself while Belle wrangled the five children, whose uncertainty had vanished and bright smiles had returned. While his wife set about ensuring that the day was not ruined completely, he set his tea down and went to wake Nicholas from his nap. There would be hell to pay if their son discovered that he’d missed out on jelly.

* * *

 

“Did you have a good day, Leo?” Belle asked as she cleared the dinner plates from the dining table.

“Yep!” said Leo brightly with spaghetti sauce smeared all over his mouth.

“What about you, Jesse?”

“Uh-huh!”

Rumplestiltskin smiled as he looked around the table full of children. Despite the incident at the Yaoguai Caves, they ended up having a great picnic and a good day in the woods. Jesse had even joined in on a game of hide-and-seek that Gideon and Diane devised without argument or any attempt to take over the game like he usually did. That was, in Rumplestiltskin’s opinion, the greatest achievement of the day.

“Mama, can Diane an’ Jesse an’ me go upstairs and play?” Gideon asked politely.

“Has everybody finished their dinner?” said Belle. “Alright, then. You may go and play. Stay inside, though. You’ve all had showers and I don’t want any more muddy feet.”

“Okay, Mama!” Gideon excitedly jumped down from his chair. “Come on!”

“Make sure you let Leo and Gabi join in!” Belle called to the three older children as they scarpered up the stairs. Gideon stopped, looked thoughtful, then came back down and took Gabi and Leo’s hands. Rumplestiltskin grinned proudly to himself while he wiped spaghetti sauce off Nicholas’ face.

“That was a good idea, bringing them back to the house to sleep,” he said, catching a flying meatball in mid-air. “I didn’t fancy trying to cram five children into the cabin’s spare room.”

“I just thought they needed a break from the woods,” said Belle.

They listened as the children made thumping noises on the ceiling and laughed excitedly. Rumplestiltskin heard scuttling feet racing down the stairs and tried to catch a glimpse of what they were doing, but became distracted when Nicholas up-ended the last of his dinner onto his head.

“Alright, son, I think it might be bathtime.” Rumplestiltskin wiped spaghetti off his trousers, trying to look stern while Nicholas giggled happily at his little trick. Then he shot Belle an apologetic look and scooped their son out of his booster seat. “Shout if they get up to any mischief.”

“Whose children are we talking about here?” said Belle with a wink.

Ten minutes later, Rumplestiltskin had Nicholas adequately cleaned, teeth brushed and dressed in his pyjamas. On the landing outside the upstairs bathroom, he yawned and pointed to the door of his bedroom. “Wan’ Teddy.”

“You’re tired, are you?” Rumplestiltskin asked. Nicholas nodded and yawned again. Not surprising; he’d had a big day and his nap had been cut short by jelly.

Rumplestiltskin made the short walk to the nursery and shut the door. There was a chance he could get Nicholas to go down if he got the boy away from the rest of the children and read him a bedtime story. Sure enough, in less than fifteen minutes, Nicholas’ eyes began to droop. He had his thumb in his mouth and his favourite stuffed toy – a blue teddy named, by the vast vocabulary of a sixteen-month-old boy, Teddy – clutched to his side. Rumplestiltskin lowered his voice register by register until Nicholas’ breathing deepened, then quietly shut off the reading lamp and padded outside, closing the door as carefully as he could.

“Nicky’s down for the night,” he informed Belle when he got back to the kitchen. He stepped up behind her while she stood at the bubble-filled sink, and slid his hands around her waist. With his nose, he burrowed into her unbound hair until he found the nape of her neck, which he kissed.

“You could help me with the dishes, Rumple,” she suggested.

“I am helping; I’m encouraging you to work quickly.”

Belle set down the cooking pan and turned to face him with a wry look. She didn’t quite kiss him, just leant in close and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“First things first; you need to go and take a look at what your son and daughter built in the playroom.”

“Another domino field?” Rumplestiltskin suggested with a sigh. They watched the movie _Robots_ last week and, naturally, all Gideon and Gabi had wanted to do afterwards was to build a giant domino maze. The end result had stretched from their bedroom, down the stairs to the playroom and into the kitchen. It had been impressive, but a bloody pain to clean up.

Belle bopped him playfully on the arm. “Just go and take a look.”

With another sigh, Rumplestiltskin let go of his wife. Then he went to the children’s playroom and frowned at what he saw in there.

“Hello? Gideon, Gabrielle? Are you in here?”

Right on cue, Gideon’s head popped out from between the blankets that had been strung from one end of the room to the other, using the sofa and the bookshelf as cornerstones that held the roof in place.

“Look, Papa!” his son shouted excitedly. “We built a fort!”

“I can see that, Gid.” Rumplestiltskin studied the children’s creation. They had done a good job. The sofa and the bookshelf formed two walls, and a mattress turned on its long side made the third. The cushions from the sofa were piled up in the gap between the mattress and the sofa in the shape of a doorway, and another sheet hung over the top and side to make the door. “How did you get your mattress downstairs?”

“Mama helped us,” Gideon explained. “Do you wanna see inside?”

“Alright.”

“You have to ask Jesse to come in. He’s the please-man; he says if people can come in or not.”

“ _Policeman,_ son,” Rumplestiltskin gently corrected, then knelt on the floor and poked his head through the cushion-doorway. “Hello?”

“Identify yourself!” Jesse demanded, appearing at the entrance to the fort armed with a water gun. Rumplestiltskin hoped it was empty.

“My name is Rumplestiltskin.”

“Friend or foe?”

“Friend, I believe.”

Jesse contemplated that for a minute, disappeared into the fort once more (Rumplestiltskin could hear urgent whispering), then reappeared a moment later with a stern look.

“The master of the castle says you can come in.”

“Oh. Well, thank you.”

It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but Rumplestiltskin made it inside the fort without knocking anything over.

“Papa!” Gabi exclaimed excitedly, crawling over the minute she spotted him. “We builded the castle!”

“We _built_ a castle,” Rumplestiltskin corrected her.

The inside was just as fancy as the outside. The kids had used toy boxes, the overturned coffee table and leftover cushions to make cubbies (which doubled as a means of holding up the roof), so the place looked like an actual fort. Albeit one that was easy to demolish and difficult to hurt one’s head on.

“Very impressive,” said Rumplestiltskin. “Whose idea was this?” he asked, flapping the entryway sheet.

“Jesse’s!” said Diane, pointing to her friend proudly.

“He’s really good at building stuff, Papa,” Gideon added.

“Really?” Rumplestiltskin noticed that Jesse had gone quiet and his cheeks had turned red.

“Papa, I wanna Wonsuponatimestory!” Gabi then interrupted and crawled into Rumplestiltskin’s lap.

“Now?”

“Now!”

“Please, Papa?” said Gideon at the same time that Leo cried, “Please!”

Rumplestiltskin looked at the other children. Diane appeared uncertain, while Jesse just seemed grateful the attention was off him. _That’s interesting …_

“Hmm. Alright, then.”

“Yay!” shouted Gabi. She reached for Leo’s hand. “Sit with me, Leo! Papa’s gonna tell us a story!”

Leo sidled up next to Rumplestiltskin and put his head on his knee. Gabi wriggled until she was comfortable, and the other three each curled up on a cushion. Rumplestiltskin smiled at their expectant faces and wondered, not for the first time, how Gabi did it. Even Bae would do what he was told by his little sister. Rumplestiltskin knew he hardly judge; his daughter had him wrapped around her finger as well.

“Is everybody comfortable?”

“Yep!” Gabi answered on behalf of the other children.

“Alright then. Once upon a time …”

* * *

 

Life with three precocious children had taught Belle the hard way to be very afraid when the house was quiet, so she poked her head into the playroom once she was done with the dishes. The fort was intact and she could hear a voice. But it was Rumple, not one of the kids. Curious, Belle lifted the sheet that blocked the entrance and looked inside.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Shh!” said Gabi, Leo, Diane and Gideon all together. “Papa’s telling a story,” Gideon explained.

“Is he?” Belle asked. “Can I listen too?”

Rumple passed her a cushion. “Have a seat.”

She made herself comfortable, at which point Leo left his spot beside Rumple and crawled into Belle’s lap.

“Where was I?” Rumple asked the assembly.

“The prince and princess went down the dwarf mines to see the wizard they put in jail,” said Gideon.

“Ah, that’s right. Well, the prince and the princess came down to the wizard’s cell,” Rumple continued with a faraway look, the children watching him with rapt attention. “But! At first, they couldn’t see the wizard.”

“He’d escaped!” Diane guessed.

Rumple chuckled. “No, nothing like that.”

“Good,” said Jesse. “He’s the villain. Villains should stay locked up in jail.”

Gideon and Diane nodded in agreement. Belle noticed a muscle twitch in her husband’s cheek, but other than that he showed no reaction to Jesse’s comment.

“Where was the wizard, Papa?” asked Gideon.

“He knew the prince and princess were coming, so he’d climbed up to the ceiling to surprise them,” said Rumple. “He climbed down, and the prince and princess jumped, but they didn’t show any fear in front of the wizard. Instead, they approached him – cautiously, mind – and told him that they had a question.

“ _‘Tell us what you know about the evil witch’s plan!’_ said the princess,” Rumple went on, raising his voice to mimic Snow speaking. Belle laughed, which earned her a funny look from Diane and Jesse each.

“ _‘Fear not,’_ ” Rumple continued, and he waved his hand and used his high-pitched imp voice. Belle hid another laugh. “ _‘For I can ease your mind! But, it’s gonna cost you something in return!’_ said the wizard.”

“Gold!” shouted Jesse at the same time that Gideon said, “Treasure!”

“No, not those things.”

“Did he want the princess’ castle?” asked Diane.

“No, not that either. He wanted the name of the princess’ unborn child.”

Jesse frowned. “Why would he want that?”

“Because names can be power, Jesse,” said Rumple. “Now, the prince said no! He wouldn’t give the wizard the name of his unborn child. But the princess was desperate, and immediately agreed.”

“Uh oh,” said Leo.

“ _‘The witch has created a powerful curse. And it’s coming. Soon, you will all be in a prison, just like me, only worse! Your prison –_ all _of our prisons – will be time. And time will stop. And we will be trapped, someplace horrible, while the que – the witch celebrates, victorious at last!’_ ” Rumple’s triumphant grin disappeared, replaced by a dark shadow. “A place where there would be no more happy endings.”

“No happy endings?” said Gideon. He looked worried, and Rumple made a ‘wait’ gesture.

“But there was hope, the wizard told them. The curse could be broken, by one very special person – who just so happened to be the princess’ unborn child.”

“That’s why he wanted the baby’s name!” Diane gasped. Rumple tapped his nose in confirmation.

“Exactly. The wizard told them that there was a prophecy. And the prophecy said that their child was the key to breaking the curse. He told them that their only hope was to get the child as far from the witch as possible, and that when the time came, their child would find them in this new land, and she would break the curse.”

“And did she?” asked Diane.

Rumple nodded. “She did.”

“Hang on,” said Jesse. “How did the prince and the princess get the baby away from the witch?”

“Well, they went and asked for help from their grand council,” Rumple explained.

“Who was in the council, Papa?” asked Gideon, who loved to get as many details as he could from a good story.

“Uh, let’s see – there was a carpenter, a puppet boy, a talking cricket, a woodsman, a wolf girl and her grandmother, a dwarf and a fairy. Now, the fairy had come up with a solution; she had found a magic tree in the forest that could send the child somewhere safe, somewhere the witch would never find her. But there was a catch; the tree could only protect one person. Which meant that the princess would have to go alone, before her child was born, without the prince.”

Leo gasped. “They got seprated?”

“But they knew they would find each other again, as they always had before,” Rumple assured him. “And they did. But the princess had her baby too early. So she had to send her child away by itself, just before the curse took everyone away from their land. The child grew up in another world. But she did find her way back, and she met the evil witch, and defeated her, and broke her curse. And the family was reunited.”

“And the evil witch was defeated?” asked Diane.

“In a way,” Belle interrupted before Rumple said anything. “She knew she had done the wrong thing in casting the curse. And she wanted to be good. It took her a long time, and she made some mistakes along the way, but eventually she managed to turn her life around. And she became a very good witch after that.”

Diane’s eyes went wide. “Like Glinda?”

“A little bit, but less pink and not so many sparkles,” Belle said, smiling at the sudden mental image of Regina in a tutu.

“Oh.” Diane looked disappointed.

“What about the wizard, Papa?” asked Gideon. “Was he still trapped in his jail?”

“No.” Rumple hesitated, and gave Belle a look. “See, when the witch cast her curse, the wizard wasn’t trapped anymore. He, uh … He had an adventure of his own in this new land. With another very beautiful princess, one who loved adventures and books and whom he loved very much.”

“Like Mama?”

Rumple chuckled. “A bit like Mama, yes.”

“But he was the villain!” Jesse protested. “Princesses aren’t supposed to fall in love with the villains. How did that happen?”

However, Rumple shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s a story for another night. Now, I believe it’s almost bedtime for you young ones, so everyone needs to go and brush their teeth and put their pyjamas on.”

“Aw!” was the unanimous protest, but Rumple didn’t budge.

“Can we sleep in the castle?” asked Gideon.

Belle considered it. “There’s not really enough room for all five of you. How about we take the castle down, but we leave the mattresses and the cushions down here and you can have a camp-out in the playroom?”

“Okay!”

“But you have to promise to be extra quiet, and go to sleep when we tell you to!”

Gideon bit his lip, then looked at Diane and Jesse. The three of them had come to a silent agreement when Gideon said, “Okay, Mama.”

* * *

 

It took some doing, but the older children demolished the fort – thankfully without going _too_ crazy – while Belle got Gabi and Leo changed and their teeth brushed. Still, it was almost nine o’clock by the time they finally got the children settled and into bed. Belle could hear them chattering quietly when she went to the kitchen and put the kettle on.

“I suppose it’s a good thing that they don’t have school tomorrow,” she remarked when Rumple joined her in the kitchen. He leant against the pantry, looking contemplative. “That was quite the adventure for them, wasn’t it?”

“I just hope it taught Jesse a valuable lesson,” said Rumple.

“I think it did. You saw him this afternoon in the woods, then at dinner. He knows he did the wrong thing, and he’s sorry.”

Belle passed him a cup of tea. As he held it, he stared into the milky depths and he wore the same look that Gabi got when somebody broke her Lego.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. He didn’t answer her. “Was it what the kids said about the wizard in your story?” she guessed.

Rumple sighed and stood up straight. “One day I’m going to have to tell them who I really am,” he murmured.

“Well, we knew that they would find out the truth eventually.”

“Yes, but … what if, when we do …” Rumple swallowed heavily. “What if he just sees me as a monster?”

Belle put her tea to one side and then sat on the counter. She shuffled down until she was as close to her husband as she could be, and cupped his cheek in one hand.

“Gideon will never think of you as a monster. He loves you. You’re his papa. His hero. _My_ hero.”

He didn’t look convinced, so she stretched forwards and kissed the top of his head.

“When the time comes, I’ll be right here with you to make sure he understands the truth,” she added in a firmer voice, resting her chin on his head and sliding her fingers through his hair. “That good people can make bad choices, but it doesn’t make them villains. We’ve both got things in our pasts that we’d rather the children not know. We both made mistakes. And the fact that you’re not proud of it is a good thing. They’ll understand that.”

He finally moved, lifting his head to look up at her.

“Just because one day Gideon will have to know who you once were, doesn’t mean he won’t love you,” said Belle. “I know who you were. And I know who you really are. And I love you for it.”

She kissed him on the lips.

“Is it bedtime?” she murmured as he moved in front of her and slipped his arms around her waist.

“Could be if you want,” he said with a glint in his eye. “But there’s a perfectly good table right here.”

She giggled as he lowered her onto her back.


End file.
